CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Feb. 24)–Being second has been the key to finishing first for Johnny Scott during the first two nights of the 9th Annual Summit USMTS Winter Speedweeks at the South Texas Speedway.
In front of a hearty crowd at the 3/8-mile clay oval in Corpus Christi on Saturday night, the 28-year-old from Cameron, Mo., started on the outside of the front row to start the 40-lap Summit USMTS Southern Series main event, but polesitter Bobby Malchus of Red Oak, Texas, seized control when the green flag was displayed.
Challenging the leader on several occasions, Scott shadowed Malchus throughout the opening laps while Cade Dillard, Rodney Sanders and Ethan Dotson tussled for the other positions inside the top five.
Lapped traffic came into play with 14 laps in the books, and after three more laps Malchus made contact with a back-marker which sent him into a spin and out of contention for the win.
That left Scott to set the pace for the next green-flag restart with Dillard, Sanders, Dotson and Joe Duvall in tow. Dotson, competing in just his second USMTS race, slipped past Sanders for third but that was the final change of position among the leaders as Scott cruised the final 22 laps to score his second win in a row to kick off the 2018 campaign.
On Friday, Sanders paced the first 35 laps before his driveshaft exited the car and ending his night. Scott was waiting to assume his spot afterward.
Saturday was the 32nd win of Scott’s USMTS career was worth another $3,000 check.
While Dillard, Dotson, Sanders and Duvall completed the top five, sixth through tenth went to Manuel Williams II, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Bo Day, Dereck Ramirez and Jordan Weaver.
Ahumada, who started 18th, raked in several additional awards including the Eibach Spring Forward Award for advancing the most positions throughout the program, FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars in the feature race, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products “Trick Move” of the Race Award and a contingency from Wilwood Disc Brakes for finishing in the seventh spot.
Overall, four of Saturday’s top 10 finishers are contenders for the Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year Award.
Sunday’s event at the Texana Raceway in Edna has been cancelled due tio rain.
The USMTS will be back at it again on Thursday, March 1, at the Grayson County Speedway in Bells, Texas, with an open practice scheduled for Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. Friday will find the mud-slinging Modified monsters at the Kennedale Speedway Park and on Saturday the series tackles the Superbowl Speedway in Greenville.
This will be the only swing through the Dallas-Fort Worth area until the inaugural Summit USMTS Southern Nationals returns to Kennedale in November.
The first points race in the USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental happens two weeks later on Friday, March 9, at the Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss., which will also be a Summit USMTS Southern Series points race.
On Saturday, March 10, the series will move to the ‘House of Hook’ in Meridian, Miss., at the Whynot Motorsports Park, with the final stop of the 9th Annual Summit USMTS Winter Speedweeks taking place at the Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv. Keep up to speed with everything USMTS by joining our email list at www.usmts.com/subscribe.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS Southern Series powered by Production Jars
9th Annual Summit USMTS Winter Speedweeks presented by MSD Performance – Round 2 of 9
South Texas Speedway, Corpus Christi, Texas
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won.
SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 24m Manuel Williams II (R), Fouke, Ark.
2. (4) 174 Ethan Dotson (R), Bakersfield, Calif.
3. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
4. (2) A1 Phil Dixon, Crosby, Texas.
5. (8) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
6. (9) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla.
7. (7) 9 Kevin Rutherford, Flower Mound, Texas.
8. (3) 110 Kelly Buckallew, Memphis, Mo.
9. (6) 260 Erik Thorne, Baytown, Texas.
DNS – 4v Billy Vogel, West Fargo, N.D.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas.
2. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn.
3. (3) 24z Zane Ferrell (R), Hermitage, Ark.
4. (5) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
5. (6) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
6. (8) 4 Bo Day (R), Greenville, Texas.
7. (9) 9 Jared Fuller, Memphis, Mo.
8. (4) 20t Jordan Weaver, Woodward, Okla.
9. (7) 137 William Pittaway (R), Corpus Christi, Texas.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas.
2. (3) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo.
3. (6) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
4. (2) 33f Jardin Fuller (R), Memphis, Mo.
5. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (4) 7x Rory Jordan, Victoria, Texas.
7. (5) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas.
8. (7) 24 Manuel Williams Sr. (R), Fouke, Ark.
DNS – 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, all advance):
1. (1) 4 Bo Day (R), Greenville, Texas.
2. (5) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas.
3. (7) 20t Jordan Weaver, Woodward, Okla.
4. (8) 24 Manuel Williams Sr. (R), Fouke, Ark.
5. (9) 260 Erik Thorne, Baytown, Texas.
6. (6) 110 Kelly Buckallew, Memphis, Mo.
7. (2) 7x Rory Jordan, Victoria, Texas, MBCustoms/Mullins, $90.
8. (3) 9 Jared Fuller, Memphis, Mo., GRT/Mullins, $75.
9. (4) 9 Kevin Rutherford, Flower Mound, Texas, MBCustoms/ASI, $90.
10. (10) 137 William Pittaway (R), Corpus Christi, Texas, Shaw/Wells, $90.
DNS – 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., VanderBuilt/Mullins, $90.
DNS – 4v Billy Vogel, West Fargo, N.D., MBCustoms/Durham, $90.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo., VanderBuilt/Durham, 40, $3000.
2. (4) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustoms/Knowles, 40, $1700.
3. (3) 174 Ethan Dotson (R), Bakersfield, Calif., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 40, $1200.
4. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn., MBCustoms/Hatfield, 40, $1000.
5. (6) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 40, $800.
6. (7) 24m Manuel Williams II (R), Fouke, Ark., Bandit/Kraft, 40, $700.
7. (18) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas, GRT/BMS, 40, $600.
8. (17) 4 Bo Day (R), Greenville, Texas, MBCustoms/Mullins, 40, $500.
9. (12) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $450.
10. (19) 20t Jordan Weaver, Woodward, Okla., BlackWidow/ProPower, 40, $350.
11. (10) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., BlackWidow/ProPower, 40, $375.
12. (8) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas, MBCustoms/Knowles, 40, $350.
13. (9) 24z Zane Ferrell (R), Hermitage, Ark., MBCustoms/ASI, 40, $325.
14. (15) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas, MBCustoms/Sput’s, 40, $300.
15. (21) 260 Erik Thorne, Baytown, Texas, Calif.M/ChevPerf, 40, $250.
16. (14) 33f Jardin Fuller (R), Memphis, Mo., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $300.
17. (16) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla., MBCustoms/Karl, 39, $300.
18. (13) A1 Phil Dixon, Crosby, Texas, Elite/CB, 33, $300.
19. (22) 110 Kelly Buckallew, Memphis, Mo., Rage/Adams, 26, $250.
20. (11) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., VanderBuilt/Speedway, 25, $300.
21. (20) 24 Manuel Williams Sr. (R), Fouke, Ark., Bandit/Kraft, 18, $300.
22. (1) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, Rocket/Wells, 17, $300.
(R) = Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contender
Lap Leaders: Malchus 1-17, J. Scott 18-40.
Total Laps Led: J. Scott 23, Malchus 17.
Margin of Victory: 0.762 second.
Time of Race: 30 minutes, 7.8 seconds (6 cautions).
Provisional Starters: none.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: Ahumada (advanced 14 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Ahumada (started 18th, finished 7th).
Entries: 27.
Next Race: Sunday, February 25, Texana Raceway, Edna, Texas.
Summit USMTS Southern Series Points: J. Scott 204, Dillard 186, Duvall 171, Dotson 167, Mitchell 159, Ramirez 158, Ahumada 152, Sanders 150, Robertson 149, Rowland 142.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Dotson 167, Ahumada Jr. 152, Ferrell 136, Williams II 131, Day 128.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Durham 20, Knowles 17, ChevPerf 15, Sput’s 10, Cornett 9.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: VanderBuilt 20, MBCustoms 18, Hughes 14, GRT 13, Bandit 11.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Williams Sr.
Beyea Custom Headers – Bonner.
BSB Manufacturing – Williams II.
Deatherage Opticians – Robertson.
E3 Spark Plugs – Dotson.
Edelbrock – Robertson.
Eibach – Ahumada.
Fast Shafts – Malchus.
FK Rod Ends – Ahumada.
Forty9 Designs – Mitchell, Buckallew.
GRT Race Cars – Jared Fuller.
Hooker Harness – Ferrell.
Integra Shocks & Springs – Dixon.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts – Thorne.
Keyser Manufacturing – Weaver.
KSE Racing Products – Ramirez.
Maxima Racing Oils – J. Scott.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – longtow.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Jardin Fuller.
QA1 – Dillard.
RacerWebsite.com – Jared Fuller.
Simpson Performance Products – Williams II.
Swift Springs – J. Scott, Jordan.
Sybesma Graphics – Malchus.
Tire Demon – Rowland.
VP Racing Fuels – J. Scott.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Ahumada.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Ahumada.
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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: Alpinestars, American Racer Racing Tires, Argo Manufacturing, Casey’s General Stores, Chevrolet Performance, CP-Carrillo, Deatherage Opticians, Eibach Springs, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts, KSE Racing Products, Leaf Racewear & Safety Equipment, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, MSD Performance, Nitroquest Media, Pace Performance, RacinDirt.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, Summit Racing Equipment, VP Racing Fuels.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Duvall Electric, Eagle Moon Farm, ElbowsUp.com, Evolution Powersports, Oreo Cookies, PBM Performance Products, Production Jars, Rancho Milagro Racing, River’s Edge Scrap Management, Snickers, Spike Hardcore Energy, Top of the World Ranch, YouDirt.com.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: 905 Ink, AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Alpine Stars, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, BSB Manufacturing, Edelbrock, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance Products, Hooker Harness, Integra Shocks & Springs, Keyser Manufacturing, Maxima Racing Oils, Mr. Gasket, Out-Pace Racing Products, QA1, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, RHRSwag.com, Simpson Performance Products, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Tire Demon, Wehrs Machine & Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes.
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Contact Info:
Jeff Nun